Why Apple's event next week won't 'rock' at all
Apple announced yesterday that it will be holding a press event that most believe will discuss what the company has on-tap for the future of of its iPod.
But as soon as that announcement hit the wire, Apple zealots and pundits alike were speculating about what the company would possibly announce. A new iPod? An enhancement to iTunes? Maybe a new iTunes song purchasing system that would see Apple dump per-song purchases and affix a monthly fee instead? The list goes on.
And while I can understand where everyone is coming from and Steve Jobs is able to captivate an audience unlike any other CEO in the business, I'm not so sure it's going to be as wonderful as everyone seems to think.
If this event will surround the iPod -- and most think it will -- how important will it really be? Let's face it -- an iPod event may have a few big announcements that will make some swoon, but by and large, it's nothing more than another run-of-the-mill day at the Apple office.
What more can Apple really do to make an iPod event a blow-out? The way I see it, the only thing that would surprise me at this point would be a different song purchase policy on iTunes. Other than that, a slim iPod Nano or an iPod with a larger screen just won't do it for me.
Chances are, the announcement made next Tuesday will go something like this: Steve Jobs will make a big fuss over how well the iPod sells and how many songs his company has been able to sell on iTunes. After that, someone will come on stage and bore us with minute details about things we don't care about. Once that's over, Steve will come out and announce a new lineup of iPods that will "be the most popular yet." After that, in order to keep in line with the "rock" moniker, a band will perform to end the show.
At this point, it's tough to get excited about Apple events. Sure, they show off new products and sometimes they're fun to watch, but lately, they've been boring, to say the least.
I wouldn't expect anything more out of next week's show.
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Personally, I don't think much of Steve Jobs' presentation because of its predictability (as described in the article).